Amendment of the Hindu Succession Act and Women’s Human Capital in India: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey

Asuka Yamamoto ()
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Asuka Yamamoto: Kyushu University

The European Journal of Development Research, 2025, vol. 37, issue 3, No 5, 569-592

Abstract: Abstract Using five-period repeated cross-sectional data from the Indian National Family Health Survey, this study examines the impact of inheritance rights reforms on the human capital of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists. The results demonstrate that, in the reform states, Hindu, Sikh, Jain, and Buddhist daughters of landholding household heads (the treatment group) improved their human capital indicators of education (years of education) and their health status (underweight and BMI z-score). There is also some indication that their reading habits might have improved compared to the control group. In contrast, the human capital indicators of the placebo group—Muslims and Christians, who share similar characteristics with the treatment group but were not subject to the reform—showed no clear improvements. Estimates based on reform timing show that Karnataka and Maharashtra, which were reformed in 1994, have contributed the most to the main result. The results provide evidence for the human capital-enhancing impact of inheritance reforms for women.

Keywords: Education; Health; Natural experiment; Inheritance rights; Property; Hindu Succession Act (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1057/s41287-025-00689-6

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